BRADLEY Dack believes he has improved as a player since joining Rovers as he prepares for his first return to former club Gillingham.

The 24-year-old has been in fine form in recent weeks to help propel Tony Mowbray’s side to the top of League One.

And he believes working with his Rovers teammates and under Mowbray have helped his game develop.

Asked if he returns to Priestfield a better player than when he left, he said: “Definitely. The first couple of months was tough for me with a couple of little injuries but once I got myself fit and ready to go I think I have done really well and the players around me have definitely helped.

“Coming to a club like this you know you are going to play with better players and they have definitely helped me and the manager and staff have been brilliant for me.”

Rovers make the long journey south five points clear of Wigan, who are in FA Cup action, and Shrewsbury, who travel to Scunthorpe.

Promotion has been the aim at Ewood all season and Dack wants Rovers to maintain their high standards heading into the final nine games of the season.

He added: “If you look at the expectations at the start of the year then we are probably on course for where we want to be and where I want to be.

“You always say you can do better, as a team we can do better. There’s nine games left and a lot of football to be played and if we don’t play well in those games and get the job done then all that hard work is for nothing.”

The playmaker has 15 goals this term and is keen to add another one against his old side.

Asked what it would mean to score the winner this afternoon he said: “Everything. It would be lovely to get a goal down there, the most important thing is to win the game but if I score the winner then even better.”

He added: “It is a tough place to go, I don’t think the pitch is in great shape and it is tight with the fans on top of you so it will be a tough game but with the squad we have, on our day, there is no team in the league that will beat us.

“We go there full of confidence and hopefully we can get the three points.”

Dack broke into the Gillingham first team in their League Two promotion season of 2012-13 as an 18-year-old and hopes the Gills fans will remember him fondly when he returns.

“I am hoping for a good reception and I am sure I will get a decent reception. I think everyone understood it was the right time for me to leave and I had some great memories at the club.

“It was my first club and has a place in my heart and always will have.

“I started when I was 18 and managed to break into the first team under Martin Allen.

“I will always have the memories and getting promoted in my first season was a good feeling. After that we battled against relegation for a few seasons and then had a good season a couple of years ago and couldn’t quite get over the line and I think it was the right time for me to move on in the end.

“I felt I had gone a bit stale as a footballer and maybe stopped learning a little bit. I just needed a new challenge and a fresh start at a club that I felt could go onto bigger and better things .

“Rovers are a massive club and the history is unbelievable and the training ground and the stadium is on a different level and that is why I was excited to sign.”